The barber tiptoed onto the doorstep of his corner barbershop and peered down the alley. He knew they were coming, but didn't know what to do!

“Perfect, just perfect,” muttered Chris. How on earth was he going to get out of this one? People had warned him to stick to his day job. Had he listened perhaps he wouldn’t be in this predicament. Or maybe, he shouldn’t have listened so well. What he had going for him was honest and steady work with some added fringe benefits: He knew absolutely everything that happened in that small, quaint, back roads little town. People talk, and they talk a lot of nonsense sometimes, but at others, it can kind of make sense. Like when old Mr. Simms walked in with straw hanging out of his two front teeth, going on and on about the, "best way to get rich quick now-a-days." You see, Simms and old Barney down on Mercury Street had just opened a not-so advertised little gambling ring. Chris supposed that they had made quite a go of it since Simms was already talking about closing the doors on his farm operation. One thing led to another and soon Chris was living high and living fast, until it all came crashing down on him.